This dataset is free to download without registration. It is reviewed and updated twice annually, normally in March and September, with stable column names wherever possible.
SHA-256: 31043f5b51b432e040b93a29fc979bfcb47bb2fbe74dcfe9e1a7201d73b6bf52
Data preview
| rank | place name | county | nearest service type | farthest service type | service gap kilometres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hugh Town | Isles of Scilly | hospital | police | 79.078 |
| 2 | Old Town | Isles of Scilly | hospital | police | 77.658 |
| 3 | Bude | Cornwall | police | train | 38.918 |
| 4 | Poughill | Cornwall | hospital | train | 37.782 |
| 5 | Widemouth Bay | Cornwall | police | train | 35.529 |
Data dictionary
- rank
- Position in this ranking.
- place_name
- Town or built-up place.
- county
- County or equivalent area.
- country
- Country.
- latitude
- Place latitude.
- longitude
- Place longitude.
- train_distance_kilometres
- Distance to the nearest matched National Rail station.
- hospital_distance_kilometres
- Distance to the nearest hospital or urgent-care location.
- gp_distance_kilometres
- Distance to the nearest GP practice.
- police_distance_kilometres
- Distance to the nearest police station or contact point.
- mean_distance_kilometres
- Arithmetic mean of the four category distances.
- mean_distance_miles
- The same mean in miles.
- farthest_service_type
- Service category with the greatest nearest-location distance.
- farthest_service_distance_kilometres
- Greatest category distance.
- place_url
- Permanent Postcodes UK place page.
- nearest_service_type
- Service category with the smallest nearest-location distance.
- nearest_service_distance_kilometres
- Smallest category distance.
- service_gap_kilometres
- Largest category distance minus smallest category distance.
Methodology and sources
For built-up places in England and Wales, nearest-location distances are calculated for rail stations, hospitals, GP practices and police locations. The largest category distance minus the smallest category distance is the gap. Scotland is excluded because the GP source has insufficient Scottish coverage. Places are ranked by descending gap. This is straight-line analysis, not travel time or service quality.
- Postcodes UK towns and places directory
- National Rail station information
- NHS organisation data
- OpenStreetMap contributors
Source datasets change over time and can contain omissions or revisions. Verify operational, admissions, financial or safety-critical decisions with the responsible authority.
Licence and suggested attribution
You may use this compilation for research, analysis and publishing with attribution to Postcodes UK and compliance with the applicable underlying source licences. The download does not transfer or override third-party rights.
Suggested attribution:
Source: Postcodes UK (postcodesuk.com), “1,000 Largest Public-Service Access Gaps”, September 2026, https://postcodesuk.com/data-downloads/largest-public-service-gaps. Derived from Postcodes UK location data and the named source datasets; underlying source rights and attribution statements apply.
Office for National Statistics and other public-sector information is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcode geography may contain Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail rights. HM Land Registry aggregates are derived from Price Paid Data. School fields derive from Department for Education and Ofsted sources.